Fire Under Control at Home of Berlin Philharmonic

Firefighters battled a blaze at the Berlin Philharmonic on Tuesday.Credit
Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters

BERLIN — Firefighters brought a large fire in the roof of the famed home of the Berlin Philharmonic under control on Tuesday, but the full extent of damage to the building remained unclear.

The Berlin Fire Department reported no injuries, and the musicians’ irreplaceable instruments were rescued from the building, the Philharmonie. Nevertheless, the roof, made of metal, was in shambles after firefighters tore through it to get at the flames in the structure underneath, and significant water damage to the building, which is one of the world’s great concert halls, remained a concern.

Pamela Rosenberg, administrative director of the Philharmonic, said, however, that she held out hope that performances might even resume as scheduled on Thursday.

“I am very relieved, but I don’t want to allow myself to become euphoric too soon,” said Ms. Rosenberg, standing in the main concert hall as firefighters unfurled enormous sheets of plastic to catch drops of water falling from the ceiling onto the upper seats.

Officials said they believed that a team of welders working on the roof had accidentally started the fire, but the cause remained under investigation. The fire commander at the scene said that more than 17,000 square feet of the roof was damaged, from the fire and the rescue efforts.

The fire broke out shortly before 2 p.m. and was declared under control five hours later.

Ms. Rosenberg said firefighters would spend the night combing the roof with an infrared light to be certain that not a single ember remained. A spokesman for the Fire Department said it was too soon to determine the full extent of the damage.

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The fire took hold just before a rehearsal that was open to the public. Musicians described a frantic evacuation.

Sarah Willis, the orchestra’s second horn, said she had been in the warm-up room when she “smelled something like lunch was burning.”

“A few minutes later, someone burst in and said we have to get out now,” she said, speaking on her cellphone as she watched smoke billowing from the building.

The Philharmonic’s distinctive yellow building, completed in 1963 and designed by Hans Scharoun, lies near the old dividing line of Berlin — the wall — in what was once the western sector. It is known for the quality of its acoustics.

Nicholas Kulish reported from Berlin, and Daniel J. Wakin from New York. Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Paris, and Steffen Scholz from Berlin.